B97356627Z.1_20140817175246_000+GU36B9VS.1-1.jpg (6 of 7)

Rocks are on display at the 49th annual Nova Scotia Gem and Mineral Show and Sale in Parrsboro on the weekend. (FRANCIS CAMPBELL / Truro Bureau)

Rocks are on display at the 49th annual Nova Scotia Gem and Mineral Show and Sale in Parrsboro on the weekend. (FRANCIS CAMPBELL / Truro Bureau)

B97356627Z.1_20140817175246_000+GU36B9VT.1-1.jpg (7 of 7)

Rocks are on display at the 49th annual Nova Scotia Gem and Mineral Show and Sale in Parrsboro on the weekend. (FRANCIS CAMPBELL / Truro Bureau)

Rocks are on display at the 49th annual Nova Scotia Gem and Mineral Show and Sale in Parrsboro on the weekend. (FRANCIS CAMPBELL / Truro Bureau)

PARRSBORO — Like a rock.

That like for everything rock-related escalated into a form of devotion in Parrsboro on the weekend.

“It’s amazing to see what comes from our Earth and how it can be used,” said Karen Dickinson, co-ordinator of the 49th annual Nova Scotia Gem and Mineral Show.

“It’s not always the ring on our fingers or earrings, but it’s healing stones and wonderful minerals. It’s amazing that someone can take a rock that looks so rough on the outside and they cut it open and we have a beautiful stone.”

That amazement brought 3,000 or so people through the doors of the Parrsboro Lions Recreation Centre for three days of rock talk and gem gazing that concluded Sunday afternoon.

An impressive list of 32 exhibitors from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario set up shop around the arena.

“A lot of people through the door are people who are making jewelry or are collectors themselves or have their own shops. There are others who just come because they are amazed at what can be found in the ground and on the shores.”

Sharon Jury, 65, of Amherst comes for “everything.”

“I love rocks,” she said. “I got into beading a while back.”

Jury said she has been making the short trek to Parrsboro for years to take part in the gem and mineral show.

“My sister-in-law’s husband has been ill. She couldn’t come with me this year, so I said I’m coming on my own.”

Jury clutched a bag as she made her way through the exhibits on her way out of the arena early Saturday afternoon.

“I can’t leave without something,” she said. “I got a crystal pen this year. I meant to get one last year.”

Not far away, Janelle Tyler, the crystal pen creator, was stealing a few minutes away from her Gypsy Road Glass, Silver & Stone booth to have a quick lunch.

“It’s probably the glass pens that people are most excited about now,” said Tyler, a 30-something artisan from Halifax who has been coming to the Parrsboro show since 2002, the last seven years as an exhibitor with her own booth.

“I’m still working on newer projects but the glass pens just appeal to so many different people. And they are still useful. They are made in a very hot torch flame.

“I start with rods of glass and then it’s just a matter of rotating, pressing and using various steel and graphite tools to shape the glass and the flame itself.”

At the booth, customers can dip the pen in an inkwell and try it out on a piece of a paper.

Tyler leans on the help of her ever-supportive parents to afford her the time to sample other booths and to buy some materials for her own projects, which include one-of-a-kind jewelry and functional art, hanging vases and silversmith beads.

“This year especially, we’ve gotten a few new vendors and I’m so impressed with them. The specimens that are available, the variety is massive and the prices are really decent and often exceptional. You just can’t find this kind of selection anywhere else in the Maritimes.”

A short stone’s throw down the arena floor, Dino Nardini attracts attention like a rock star.

Nardini, a website developer by trade who has been collecting amethyst and agate along the Bay of Fundy for the past 30 years as a hobby, is showing off an impressive array of rock and jewelry in the Nova Scotia Agate corner.

“I only recently decided to sell some of my collection,” said Nardini, who is in his second year at the Parrsboro show.

“We cut up show pieces or we make jewelry or we sell it to other people so they can make jewelry. We sell rough agate slabs and amethyst showpieces and agate showpieces and jewelry.”

Nardini said Nova Scotia has the finest cherry flame and golden flame translucent agate rock in the world.

“The most common questions that I get here are, ‘Is this really all from Nova Scotia and is this really all collected by you?’ It is. I can tell you a story for every rock — the day I found them, the weather on the day I found them.”

Before he’s able to tell any stories about particular rocks, Nardini is interrupted by an anxious customer.